{"id":891006,"date":"2026-10-22T17:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891006\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T17:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:42:15","slug":"japanese-golfers-help-us-military-retirees-set-charity-tournament-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891006\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese golfers help US military retirees set charity tournament record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/231026GOLF-VETERANSphoto01.jpg\" alt=\"Golfers gather at the first tee of a tree-lined golf course, with one player driving toward the fairway while others watch near golf carts and the tee marker.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n        Vietnam veteran Preston Lofton watches golfers play in the Yokota Military Retiree Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf &amp; Resort in western Tokyo, Oct. 21, 2026.\u00a0 (Seth Robson\/Stars and Stripes)<br \/>\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">TOKYO \u2014 A charity golf tournament organized by U.S. military retirees drew a record 127 players this week at Tama Hills Golf &amp; Resort, thanks in part to partnership with a nearby Japanese driving range.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">The Yokota Military Retirees Association\u2019s annual tournament typically attracts fewer than 100 golfers, former Air Force squadron commander Lloyd Jack said at the course Wednesday.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">This year, a relationship with the nearby Golf Partner driving range helped increase participation, Vietnam War veteran Preston Lofton said.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">Nearly all the entrants were Japanese or South Korean, he said.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">Lofton and Jack were among six retirees, including veterans of the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, who helped organize the event.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">The tournament raised nearly $2,000 for activities and assistance benefiting the military retirement community, Lofton said.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">The money will help support events such as the Air Force Ball and a Christmas dinner, along with flowers for sick veterans and assistance for retirees\u2019 widows.&#13;<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/231026GOLF-VETERANSphoto02.jpg\" alt=\"Participants pose in a golf cart beside a welcome sign for the Yokota Military Retiree Annual Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf and Resort in Japan.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n        Organizer Preston Lofton poses with Japanese golfers waiting to tee off in the Yokota Military Retiree Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf &amp; Resort in western Tokyo, Oct. 21, 2026.\u00a0 (Seth Robson\/Stars and Stripes)<br \/>\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">\u201cWe help anybody who is in need,\u201d Lofton said.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">The event also gives local golfers a chance to play a course that\u2019s typically off limits to them.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">\u201cNormally they can\u2019t enter here, but on the day of the tournament as an American guest they can enter and play golf,\u201d Tracey Kuroi, a contractor who helps coordinate rounds at Tama Hills, said at the event.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">Jack said Japanese players enjoyed tournament prizes that include American flag shirts and Yuengling beer.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">\u201cIt is good for community relations and helps the locals as well as the retirees,\u201d he said.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">Among the competitors was Japanese PGA professional Tatsuya Aizawa, who singled out the course\u2019s eighth hole as his favorite.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">The par-4 hole features a lake along the left side of a wide fairway and several bunkers guarding the green.&#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p\">\u201cI drove the green and scored an eagle,\u201d Aizawa said, showing a scorecard with a total of 68.&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vietnam veteran Preston Lofton watches golfers play in the Yokota Military Retiree Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":891007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,373481,373478,99,373480,373482,373479],"class_list":["post-891006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-military-retiree-golf-tournament","tag-military-retirees-charity-golf-tournament","tag-sports","tag-tama-hills-golf-resort","tag-tokyo-golf-event","tag-yokota-military-retirees-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}